RTD IN TRICKLE BED REACTORS: EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract

Axial dispersion has been measured in a laboratory-scale model trickle bed reactor at different liquid and gas flow rates under co-current down-flow condition. Air was used as gas phase and water or aqueous polyethylene glycol solution was used as liquid phase, covering the Reynolds number range of 0–164 for gas phase and 4–86 for liquid phase. Liquid phase residence time distribution was measured using a 1 M KCl pulse tracer. The axial dispersion model was used to simulate the observed RTD, and liquid phase PeL and BoL were estimated as model parameters. Based on the results, it was observed that under low interaction flow regime (trickle flow), liquid phase Bodenstein number, BoL, increased gradually with liquid phase Reynolds number, ReL, and was found to be nearly independent of gas phase Reynolds number, ReG. Near the flow transition point, BoL or PeL decreased, and in the high interaction regime it showed an oscillatory response. In the trickle flow regime .